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WHAT'S HAPPENING AT A GLANCE
With an abundance of caution and to ensure the health and safety of our staff, the Synagogue building is closed due to the pandemic until further notice. For more information about our COVID-19 response plan, please click here.
Our staff will continue to work from home and messages via phone and email will be responded to within 24 hours. If you need any assistance, you may call Marc Fargotstein at 847-612-6579 or contact Office Administrator Karen Burnham at 847-714-6946. The Rabbi is also available on his cell phone 847-525-7746 at any time.
Please Note: Our regular Tuesday email from the Executive Director is suspended for the time being. Be sure to read your Newsletter on Thursdays to stay up to date to all the Shir Hadash happenings!
Creative Worship and Ritual -- Services Online
- Shabbat Service via Zoom, July 17
- Pajama Havdalah: A Magical Experience
The Rabbi's Corner -- "The Eruv"
Religious Education
- Temporary Change in School Registration Procedure
- Adult Ed Programs Continue Online -- Open to All Members
- No Lunch & Learn with the Rabbi This Week
- Worldwide Synagogue Sing, July 19
Membership News and Events
- Membership Renewal Forms Now Available Online
- Camp Havaya@Home Continues Through July 25
- Saturday Night - Board Game Night via Zoom, July 18
- This Sunday -- Institutional Racism & History of Racism in the US, July 19 and 26
- The Jewish 48'ers Documentary Discussion, July 23
- Shir HaNosh TV: Making Tadelicoos with Reba Meshulam, August 2
- Book Club New Selection; Meeting August 20
- Smile! Special Family Photo Session Opportunity
Social Action
- Lambs Farm Seeking Gardening Volunteers
- Wheeling Township Food Pantry - Donations Needed
- Support Weekend Food Boxes for School District 21 Families
- Donate Books for Foster Teens
Support for Members
- CJE Support for Seniors in Need
- Meal Support for Children from KiwiKids
- Food Distribution for Veterans, July 24
- Food Pantry for Wheeling Residents
- State Program Assists with Utility Payments and Household Needs
- Fresh Produce Distribution
- Donations Support Members in Need
- Shir Hadash Member Business Directory
Ongoing Fundraisers
- iGive
- Amazon Smile
- SHOP Shir Hadash
Zooming Shabbat Service, Friday July 17, 7:30 p.m.
Let’s welcome Shabbat together with an online Shabbat service via Zoom. Rabbi Eitan will share the pages of the prayer book on screen and lead the service from his home with meditations, prayers, readings, story, and song.
Pajama Havdalah, a Magical Experience -- Participants in last week's Pajama Havdalah were treated to the rare sight of the mythical unicorn rabbi. Only at Shir Hadash!
THE RABBI’S CORNER
July 17-18, 2020 / 26 Tamuz 5780 / Shabbat Matot-Masei
Torah: Numbers 30:2 - 36:13 Haftarah: Jeremiah 2:4 - 28; 3:4
“The Eruv”
Dear Friends,
If Shabbat is a day of rest, reflection, and prayer, should there be a limitation on how far one may walk or carry an object? While there is no expressed limitation, the rabbis inferred a limit from the verse in this week’s Torah portion, Numbers 35:5 – “You shall measure off two thousand cubits outside the town on the east side, two thousand cubits on the south side, two thousand cubits on the west side, and two thousand cubits on the north side, with the town in the center. That shall be the pasture for their towns.” This limit establishes the private domain within which one may walk. Since a cubit, the length of the forearm from elbow to finger tip, is roughly the length of one step, the law restricts walking to two thousand paces away from home on Shabbat.
What if one wants or needs to walk farther than two thousand paces on Shabbat? The solution is simple. The rabbis reasoned that if one could cordon off an area with an unbroken length of string or wire, even if larger than two thousand paces, that would mark off the area within which one may walk on Shabbat and holidays. This is the “eruv,” that creates an even larger private domain.
Towns in Illinois that have an eruv include: Buffalo Grove, Champaign-Urbana, Chicago (West Rogers Park, Lincolnwood/Peterson Park, and Lakeview), Evanston [under construction], Glenview/Northbrook, and Skokie.
Zay a mentsch – be a good person.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
Temporary Change to Religious School Registration! We are working hard to finalize religious school plans for fall, and we know renewing your membership with your school payments simultaneously included is on many of your minds. During the constantly changing pandemic restrictions, we have been continually evaluating and revising our program and reviewing our costs. We have elected to temporarily suspend the payment page on religious school, until we can officially present our program and its costs to you.
Please take this time to move forward and submit your Membership Renewal and most importantly, check the box on your renewal that lets us know you plan to register child(ren) for school! We will followup with everyone shortly. At that time, you will be able to complete your school registration and arrange your school payments. Meanwhile, go to the 'School Registration Form' in the Membership area of our website, and start filling it out, as it will save time later. If you have any questions, please contact the office.
Sunday Morning Adult Ed Programs: Online! All members are welcome to participate. Contact the class facilitator, below, for information.
- 10:00 a.m. -- Torah and Jewish Philosophy Class via ZOOM
- 11:00 a.m. -- Hebrew Reading Class via WebEx -- contact Steve Lewin.
No Rabbi's Lunch and Learn in July -- The Rabbi's Lunch and Learn discussions will resume later in the summer; watch for updates.
Worldwide Synagogue Sing, Sunday mornings -- Join in Sundays at 10:00 am Chicago time for the Worldwide Synagogue Sing - a chance for school age kids to connect virtually for meaningful and creative Jewish experience. Perfect for family participation. Click here to sign up and register for this weekly program.
Membership Forms Now Available -- Shir Hadash's 2020-21 Membership Forms are now open. Click this link to renew your membership, become a new member, or register your children for Religious School. Paper registration forms are available for those that need them. Please call the synagogue at 847-498-8218 to request them. If you have any questions, contact Karen Burnham, Office Administrator, by email or call 847-498-8218.
Camp Havaya@Home through July 25 -- For two weeks, Camp Havaya@Home will offer more than 100 camp-style programs! There will be chances to sing and dance, hear stories, play games, cook food, get moving, be creative, and more. Campers start each day with an aseyfah (gathering), celebrate Shabbat together each week, and have opportunities to learn and play with some of our favorite staff members. And, of course, it wouldn't be summer without an amazing concert from our friends from Nefesh Mountain! Most Havaya@Home programs are geared for kids entering 3rd through 10th grade, but there also will be a program most mornings for younger kids. Unlike camp, all programming will be online -- either on Zoom or Facebook Live. Click here to learn more and to register for a great virtual camp experience.
Saturday Night - FAC Presents Board Game Night via Zoom, July 18 - We will be playing board games virtually on July 18, starting at 7:00 p.m., in an all-ages event. No registration required!. We will be playing Wits & Wagers: players wager points "on who's likely to guess the closest to the correct answer in this trivia game." (boardgamegeek.com) As always, children younger than 12 will need to be accompanied by an adult. Please direct all questions to elliott.simon@rocketmail.com.
This Sunday - Institutional Racism & History of Racism in the US. Part 1 of this 2-part virtual class is in 3 days -- "There are No Racist Americans; It's Just Racist America." What does Rabbi Amram Abraham mean by this statement? In this two-part class, he will talk about institutional racism and the history of racism in the U.S. The class is designed to help participants understand how racism has evolved from slavery into the structured racism of contemporary America. Participants will explore the evolution of racism in today's business language as well as the pedagogy of our educational system, all of which lead to the acceptance, defense, and overall expectation of racism. The classes will occur 11:15am-12:30pm on July 19 and 26. Zoom link will be distributed via email and Members-Only Facebook page. Register here. This program is free; voluntary contributions are welcomed to cover program costs. If you would like to donate, click here, select Social Action from the dropdown list, and write Antiracism Programs in the payment notes. Email our Social Action Chair, Lisa Burton Radzely, at SocialActionSH@gmail.com if you have any questions.
The Jewish 48'ers Documentary Discussion, July 23 - Jewish freedom fighters, inspired by the social ideals of the American and French Revolutions, took on the Feudal Monarchies in uprisings across Europe in 1848. While these revolts were crushed, many found refuge and purpose in the United States. New research into these immigrants' stories and their involvement in the American Civil War has been made into a one-hour documentary, which you can watch here for free.
Shir Hadash member David Liebling, who frequently lectures on history topics, will lead a Zoom conversation on July 23 at 8:00 p.m. about this fascinating new documentary. Watch the film prior to July 23, and then join the discussion -- Zoom links will be sent out the week of the event.. Questions? Contact Melanie at fmandes@comcast.net.
Shir HaNosh TV: Making Tadelicoos with Reba Meshulam, August 2 -- Introducing Shir HaNosh TV, Shir Hadash's member-led cooking network! Streaming live, we're bringing you a series of exciting cooking classes taught by Shir Hadash members. Come cook with us! For our first class, on Sunday August 2 at 5:00 p.m., Reba Meshulam will be making tadelicoos, Sephardic crispy cookies from the Jews of Turkey. Click here to see the recipe and to register for this free event. Zoom links will be sent the week of the class.
Book Club: New Selection -- Our next book club Zoom meeting will be on August 20. We will discuss The Weight of Ink, a novel by Rachel Kadish. Set in London of the 1660s and of the early twenty-first century, The Weight of Ink is the interwoven tale of two women of remarkable intellect: Ester Velasquez, an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city; and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with a love of Jewish history. As the novel opens, Helen has been summoned by a former student to view a cache of seventeenth-century Jewish documents. Helen embarks on one last project: to determine the identity of the documents’ scribe, the elusive “Aleph.”
Northwest Suburban Interfaith Conference Statement Against Racism -- The clergy members of the Northwest Suburban Interfaith Conference have issued a Statement Against Racism, which is published on their website.
SOCIAL ACTION
Lambs Farm Looking for Gardening Volunteers -- Do you like gardening? Lambs Farm, which provides employment opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities, wants to begin sprucing up the grounds with general landscaping - weeding, trimming, raking, deadheading plants, watering, whatever the need is! - beginning in the front of the Farm so that we look presentable and inviting to our supporters that are returning. Gardening tools will be provided, just bring gardening gloves. They will make sure you are in an outdoor area to yourself, or if you bring a friend or two, you can still help while social distancing ~ there is plenty of room to spread out and enjoy the sunshine and nature while helping. You can help any time between 9 am - 3 pm Monday - Friday. Let Angela Ramert know when you would like to help by emailing asr@lambsfarm.org.
Wheeling Township Needs Food Pantry Donations --During this critical time, donations to the Food Pantry are welcome and appreciated. Volunteers in the Food Pantry are not needed at this time. The Food Pantry for Wheeling Township and the surrounding area is remaining open to serve the community, and they are dispensing pre-packed bags of food. Donations are accepted Mon-Fri from 9:00-4:00. A cart is stationed at the west entrance (parking lot side), as the doors to the building remain locked due to COVID-19. If there is no staff in the hallway, please ring the doorbell so that your donations can be retrieved. The list of most needed items are listed here. Monetary donations also are appreciated. Checks should be written to Wheeling Township Emergency Fund. Food gift cards to Jewel or Aldi for $25 or less are also welcomed.
Donate Books for Foster Teens - Fill A Heart 4 Kids is installing libraries at foster group homes. Drop off like-new books for middle schoolers and high schoolers at 400 E. Illinois Road in Lake Forest. Fill A Heart 4 Kids is located on the second floor.
SUPPORT FOR MEMBERSMeal Support for Children from KiwiKids -- KiwiKids, a kids wellness initiative from Agudath Israel of Illinois, offers free, kosher breakfast and lunch meals for children 18 and under. There is a once-a-week pickup that contains the equivalent of seven servings of breakfast and lunch for each child. There is no income eligibility to receive these meals. To receive KiwiKids updates and see pickup times and locations, subscribe to the KiwiKids emails by clicking here.
Free Groceries for Veterans, July 24 -- If you are a veteran and need food assistance, Northern IL Food Bank will distribute free groceries to veterans on Friday, July 24, 12pm-1:30pm at Midwest Veterans Closet, 2323 Green Bay Road, North Chicago. A volunteer wearing protective gear will place the box and/or bag of groceries in your vehicle. You will not be allowed to exit your car. Food will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis, while supplies last.
Food Pantry for Wheeling Residents --The Food Pantry serving Wheeling residents distributes food on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9:00-12:00 or 1:00-4:00 from the west entrance (parking lot side). Pre-packed food bags are being distributed to residents in need. If you have used the Food Pantry before, no documents are required. If you are new to the Food Pantry, please call before you come. Forms are available for completion at the door if you are unable to call first. The number to call is (847) 259-7730. Residents using the Food Pantry may return every 2 weeks.
Fresh Produce for Families! - For those in need, free boxes of fresh produce will be handed out every Thursday through August 27th from 12:30pm – 5:30pm (while supplies last) at London Middle School, 1001 W. Dundee Road in Wheeling. Any area resident is eligible to participate in this program. The box of produce will be placed directly in the trunk of the car. No ID is needed. Participants will simply be asked to provide their name, address and family size. The information provided is kept strictly confidential as this information will be used only by the Food Depository to apply for and allocate funding for programs like this. This program is provided by CCSD21 in partnership with the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Donations for Congregants in Need: Shir Hadash has been receiving some anonymous contributions to help congregants who may be in need of food or meal delivery. Should you want to make a donation, email Karen Burnham. If you are in need of food/services, email Rabbi Eitan.
Shir Hadash Member Business Directory – Click here to reach the Shir Hadash Member Business Directory, and please patronize member businesses if you can. If you would like to add your business to the page, there is a link on the right side you can click, or click here. Note: You must be a synagogue member and must be logged into the member portal to submit your listing.
ONGOING FUNDRAISERS
If you are home and shopping online, be sure to consider these resources. You can help support Shir Hadash AT NO EXTRA COST TO YOU through these donation programs. We will need funds to help our congregants in need.
Help Shir Hadash Earn Free Donations with iGive --You can help Shir Hadash every time you shop online – the iGive Button makes it simple! iGive is a free and easy way to support the shul. Average shoppers using iGive raise between $30 and $100 a year for their causes. There are 2500 online retailers helping to make donations happen through iGive. Click here to learn more and join iGive. If you have questions, contact Sandi Schleicher, sschleicher@onebox.com.
Amazon Smile Fundraising Option -- Shir Hadash is registered with the Amazon Smile fundraising program. Just go to smile.amazon.com, search for Shir Hadash (be sure to select the one in Wheeling), and from then on 0.5% of your purchases will automatically be donated to Shir Hadash at no cost to you! To double-dip, just pay for your purchases with a ShopWithScrip Amazon gift card! Happy Shopping!
Shop with Scrip! 50,000 organizations use ShopWithScrip gift cards to turn everyday shopping into earnings. Now, Shir Hadash is using gift cards to offset our costs and create more opportunities for families. Shop at 750+ brands with gift cards to earn on gas, groceries, eating out, clothes—the list goes on. It’s easy, it’s rewarding, and it fits right into your busy schedule. Click here for complete details!
To view past editions of the Newsletter, please visit our website.
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